subter

Forms

subter (comparative subterius, no superlative)^[1] It is also spelled supter.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from sub (“under”) with the ending seen in praeter and propter.^[2][1] Wiktionary takes its use with the accusative from an adverbial Proto-Indo-European *-teros, and its use with the ablative as modelled on sub.^[1] De Vaan lists it under sub, which he traces to Proto-Italic *supo (“down, below; upwards”) and Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)upo (“up, from below”), comparing Oscan συπ (sup, “under”) and Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó, “under”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotation in the OLD and Lewis & Short is Accius, in whom sailors turn their ship in flight under the rocks to the left.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

As an adverb it is below, underneath, and beneath a surface: Lucretius says a ring wears thin underneath from being worn on the finger.^[2] As a preposition, usually with the accusative, it is along or at a place below: Varro has bees under the eaves, Cicero says Plato put anger in the breast and desire beneath the diaphragm, and Livy has a rider galloping under the enemy's wall.^[2] It is also under something that covers, as in Virgil's Alpheus, said to have made hidden ways under the sea.^[2] Catullus and Virgil also use it with the ablative of position.^[2] Church Latin glosses it beneath, below, underneath.^[5] Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[6]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of a ship under the rocks.^[2][3][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of bees under the eaves.^[2][6]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a ring worn thin underneath.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero on Plato's seat of desire.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of the Alpheus under the sea.^[2][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Below, underneath; beneath a surface or covering.^[2][3][1][5]

Preposition

1. (with accusative) Along or at a place below; at the foot of (a wall or cliff).^[2][1]
2. (with accusative or ablative) Under something that covers or surmounts;^[2][1] (figurative) below, inferior to.^[2][1]

Word family

• subternus
• subterfluō
• subterlābor
• subterfugiō

Related words

• sub

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de